Huw James started this petition to Secretary of State for Transport The Rt Hon Chris Grayling MP and

After decades of campaigning plans for re-opening the Portishead Railway were developed by TravelWest into the MetroWest Phase One bid for construction funding.

This critical bid was rejected by the Minster of Transport Chris Grayling on 17th May 2018. Grayling failed to deliver on his promise to open the project “sooner rather than later” and the 2017 Conservative Manifesto's promise to "launch new services to places which are poorly served or host major new housing projects".

Portishead is the fastest growing town in Europe and 74.5% of its residents currently commute to work via car. This means that Portishead is becoming more and more congested, facing daily gridlock - no wonder its local MP, Dr Liam Fox once called it "the biggest cul-de-sac in Britain".

We are calling on the Government to fully fund MetroWest Phase One as we believe a rail link to Portishead is vital for cutting congestion and making it easier for our residents to get into Bristol and around the country by rail!